September 13, 2011
How Much Did Your Member of Congress Receive
from Lobbyists? Check it at Maplight!
http://maplight.org/us-congress/contributions
From The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact Susan Kniep
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Stocks: More
European misery
America Grieves, Reflects on 9/11
Cut to tax credit could open debate on property tax reform
Thousands of middle-class Connecticut households will lose $200 next
spring when a popular credit on their state income tax return shrinks. But the
head of a UConn economic think-tank says the cut to
the property tax credit offers an opportunity for a re-examination of the levy
that provides most revenue to the state's municipalities
More layoffs looming on Wall Street Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) announced a five-fold increase
Monday in its number of layoffs, noting that it plans to get rid of 30,000 jobs over a yet unspecified period.
Obama delivers jobs bill; GOP objects
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama said Monday his $447
billion jobs plan is a common-sense approach needed right away, but House
Republican leaders said they opposed Obama's
intention to pay for it by ending tax relief for corporations and the wealthy.
Study says state's economic recovery slowed by rough first
half in 2011
100 fastest-growing companies
******************
From Atlantic
Magazine
and
The Rise of the New Global Elite
Forbes list of the 400
wealthiest Americans
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BREAKING…. Brooke Shields To Star In Movie On
CT Eminent Domain Case
State Officials Don't Need
Take-Home Cars Courant editorial, Sept. 9 One lesson to be gleaned at this point is that the
state treasurer, along with a host of other city and state workers, doesn't
need a take-home state car. She and they ought to drive their own cars and be
reimbursed for mileage when on state business. Most state cars are a luxury we
can no longer afford.
Ct Attorney General Cans Hundreds Of
Public Corruption Probes Kept Open By ... Connecticut Watchdog By George Gombossy Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has closed hundreds of public corruption
investigations and several high-profile probes of businesses that were launched
by his predecessor, ...
Despite Gripes, Troopers Get Unusual Perks
Education reform group presents proposals to state board By Caitlin
Emma on September 7, 2011 CTMirror.org A group of business and philanthropic
leaders presented their education reform proposals
to the state Board of Education Wednesday, pitching changes to teacher
certification requirements, preparation programs and evaluations to help close
Connecticut's dramatic achievement gap.
Read more http://www.ctmirror.org/story/13837/ct-council-education-reform-presents...
Why and How to Restore United States' AAA Rating: Inaction
Could Wipe Out All Domestic Programs in Just 10 Years (column - Girard Miller /
Governing) Sep 08, 2011 · Last month's federal debt
ratings downgrade by S&P gave the U.S. a black eye and triggered the market
Panic of '11. It hurt states and localities in the capital markets
as some bonds have been down-rated and as investors become even more jittery. The lost confidence in America's ability to control its
own financial destiny has left global stock markets and pension funds reeling
with losses and uncertainty that only worsen our financial plight. States and localities will suffer as long as Washington puts politics ahead of fiscal
discipline. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The picture is actually
bleaker than S&P's tiny — yet disputed —
downgrade suggests. Our nation's long-term structural deficits are rapidly
approaching a tipping point. It doesn't matter whose numbers you study, the
projections all lead to the same place if Congress fails to intervene soon:
Using 2010 Congressional Budget Office data, in just 14 years Uncle Sam runs out of money for everything but
entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and interest on
our debt. That leaves nothing for national defense, let alone domestic
spending. Just to keep this straight, the GAO data as compiled by former Comptroller General David
Walker show us that by 2020 there will be virtually no money for any
of the following departments of the U.S. government unless Congress acts
decisively to stem the tide of red ink
Continued at …. http://www.governing.com/columns/public-money/Why-and-How-to-Restore-United-States-AAA-rating.html
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Obama's Plan: Impact Minimal, Prospects
Poor, Investors Not Impressed Seeking Alpha Obama’s latest address to Congress should be analyzed in
the context of several trillion dollars in stimulus outlays that Washington has burned through since 2008.
After 2009’s massive “porculus” bill,
cash-for-clunkers, first-time homeowner tax credits, home loan modification
programs, etc., not to mention the Wall Street bailout known as TARP, what is
another $450 billion? Not much at all, just a drop in the ocean at this point. Continued at ….. http://seekingalpha.com/article/292765-obama-s-plan-impact-minimal-prospects-poor-investors-not-impressed More articles by Jacob Dreizin »
Let’s go back….. Economist Andrew Samwick
in Meet the New Speech notes
that he and others contributed to the Dec, 2008 publication in which a group of
economists wrote how they would use the initial stimulus whether on government
spending, tax cuts or both. Read what
they had to say when describing their ideal
stimulus package . http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/the-ideal-stimulus-package/#samwick
Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia Business
School
Tyler Cowen, George Mason University
Casey Mulligan, University of Chicago
Andrew Samwick, Dartmouth
Dean Baker, Center for Economic Policy Research
Raj
Chetty, University of California, Berkeley
Mark Zandi, Moody’s Economy.com
Nathaniel Keohane, Environmental
Defense Fund
Claudia Goldin, Harvard University
Andrew Roth, Club for Growth
Ann Dryden Witte, Wellesley
Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard
Nancy Folbre, University of
Massachusetts-Amherst
Laura Tyson, University of California, Berkeley, Haas School
of Business
Lori Kletzer, University of
California, Santa Cruz
Len Burman, Tax Policy Center
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Will Bunch: Ten Real
Questions About 9/11 http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/The-10-unanswered-questions-of-911.html
Years Later, Land Seized in Kelo Decision Used for Debris Dump
Big Government City of New London made eminent domain infamous. The
widely reviled Supreme Court ruling gave the go ahead for the city of New London to use eminent domain for taking
private property in order that it be given to a
private company for “economic ...
UConn Prepares To Tackle Budget Gaps
Govt. benefits 68% more than private industry in June Private
employers paid average wages of $19.81 an hour in June, compared to state and
local governments’ $26.41 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wages, on average, are 33% more in the public sector and benefits are 68% more,
according to BLS data. And the biggest difference in benefits is for pensions,
with state and local governments paying, on average, 7.4% of total compensation
for defined benefit plans and private industry paying 1.6% of total
compensation. On the other hand, private industry puts, on average, 2% of
total compensation into defined contribution pensions, such as a 401k plan, and
government puts
0.8%.http://jan.ocregister.com/2011/09/09/govt-benefits-68-more-than-private-industry-in-june/63765/
Patients Deserve to Know What Drug
Companies Pay Their Doctor
by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein ProPublica ProPublica's
newly updated Dollars for Docs database offers a glimpse of what patients can
expect in 2013, when all drug and medical-device companies must report to the
federal government what they pay doctors to help market their products. http://www.propublica.org/article/patients-deserve-to-know-what-drug-companies-pay-their-doctor
This op-ed is co-published with the Los Angeles Times.
Related: Piercing the Veil, More Drug Companies
Reveal Payments to Doctors
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Continued at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/downloads/wppl-8th_41.pdf
Stocks down amid concern over Europe's debt
Banks Took $6B in Reinsurance Kickbacks, Investigators Say ...
Many of the country's largest banks received $6 billion in
kickbacks from mortgage insurers over the course of a decade, according to a previously
undisclosed investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development. Continued at ….. http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/176_173/mortgage-reinsurance-respa-kickbacks-hud-investigation-doj-1041928-1.html
The Fall of the Midwest
Economic Model In 1970, the future seemed to belong to Michigan's example of big companies and big
unions. Not anymore. Wall St Journal Continued at … http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424053111903392904576509992605316426-lMyQjAxMTAxMDEwNjExNDYyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email
US sues 17 major banks over mortgage losses A U.S. regulator sued a number of major banks Friday over
losses on more than $41 billion in subprime mortgage
bonds… continued at …..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44376892/ns/business-us_business/t/us-sues-major-banks-over-mortgage-losses/
House freshmen push bills that benefit big donors Other freshmen who have crafted legislation backed by the
industries helping to underwrite their campaigns include Rep. Sean Duffy,
R-Wis., and Rep. Paul Gosar,
R-Ariz. Duffy, who gets a significant portion of his
campaign funds from financial services companies, is the lead sponsor of a
measure that would dilute the powers of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Gosar would end health insurance companies' protection from
anti-trust provisions, a step applauded by doctors, dentists and health
professionals who have donated nearly $74,000 to his campaign in the first six
months of this year. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-08-30/House-freshmen-push-bills-that-benefit-big-donors/50196680/1
Toxic
School Supplies Pose Threat to Children's Health
Read the Article at The
Environmental News Network
Visit CIR, The Center for Investigative Reporting
http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/
About CIR | Center for Investigative Reporting
The Texas radiation coverup — New
5-part local TV series on how ...
A Matter of Risk: Radiation,
Drinking Water and Deception, KHOU by Mark Greenblatt, September 3, 2011
New Docs Detail How Feds Downplayed
Ground Zero Health Risks
by Anthony DePalma, Special to ProPublica Records
obtained by a New York worker-safety group describe how officials in the Bush
administration as well as federal agencies removed health warnings and
misrepresented test results on air quality.
This story was co-published with the Guardian.
Related: Search Feds' Email and Correspondence
on Ground-Zero Dust
FBI probe into Sarasota home's link to 9/11 hijackers wasn't
... reported to Congress, commission
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/07/123431/fbi-probe-into-homes-link-to-911.html
Under Suspicion At The Mall Of America by Daniel Zwerdling, G.W.
Schulz, Andrew Becker and Margot Williams, NPR - Since Sept. 11, the
nation's leaders have warned that government agencies like the CIA and the FBI
can't protect the country on their own — private businesses and ordinary
citizens have to look out for terrorists, too. So the Obama
administration has been promoting programs like "See Something, Say Something"
and the "Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative."
Complete report at
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/07/140234451/under-suspicion-at-the-mall-of-america
USA Today - Reports show Boehner-backed firm marketed flawed tests
WASHINGTON – House Speaker John Boehner invited
James Plante, the CEO of Pathway Genomics, to attend President
Obama's jobs speech Thursday as an example of a business leader
whose efforts to create jobs have been stymied by "excessive regulations."
However, reports by the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) and
the Food and Drug Administration indicate the product Boehner, R-Ohio, claimed
was unfairly maligned by federal regulators was unapproved and ineffective.
Pathway created home genetics tests for consumers to see whether they were at
risk for 70 medical conditions. Pathway teamed with Walgreens
to sell the kit in May 2010, but after the FDA
wrote Pathway to say the agency had no record of its seeking approval for the
device, Walgreens pulled out. Continued at …. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-08/At-speech-Boehner-aims-spotlight-on-job-creation-barriers/50328564/1
Also
Check out the following……
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RESOLUTION TO REFORM STATE OF CONNECTICUT COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING LAWS
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The Federation suggests that concerned taxpayers ask their
local elected officials to approve the following Resolution, or a facsimile
thereof, which would then be forwarded by them to their State Representatives
in Hartford.
The Federation of - Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations - August,
2011
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